City Commissioners approved the purchase of sanitation vehicles during their June 4 meeting.

The purchases include two new two new 520 Peterbilt tandem axle cab and chassis with a Heil rapid rail 33-yard body for a total of $859,846.

Commissioners also approved the purchase of a new 548 Peterbilt tandem axle cab and chassis with a GS Products commercial side loader body for $329,114.

All vehicles are being purchased from Jackson Group Peterbilt of Missoula through Sourcewell.

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The two new 520 Peterbilts will be used for residential solid waste collection for both alley and street collection, according to staff.

Sideloaders help reduce labor cost, which is the most significant budget factor in residential solid waste collection, according to public works.

The two new 520 Peterbilt’s will replace two 2016 units that will be used as emergency backup trucks until they are no longer serviceable, according to staff.

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The 548 Peterbilt with a GS  Products side loader will replace an existing 2013 vehicle with 12,284 hours of operation on a commercial route with an average of 75 stops daily.

The existing vehicle is being retained for a cardboard route with less volume that occurs weekly on Mondays with 98 stops and Thursdays with 24 stops, according to public works.

The city is a member of Sourcewell, a governmental purchasing service cooperative in Minnesota.

The membership is allowable under state law and the cooperative access a range of products and services from competitively solicited bids and proposals from various vendors from which the city can work with contract managers at the cooperative to verify pricing and contract structure to ultimately enter into contracts directly with vendors, according to staff.

The new 520 Peterbilt’s cost $429,973 each, a 74 percent increase from 2016 due to inflation and supply chain issues, according to staff.

The new 548 Peterbilt costs $329,114, a 59 percent increase from 2013.

Funds for both purchases from the equipment revolving schedule will be in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, for the central garage budget.